Silo.



B. S. WILLIAMS.

SILO.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 6. 1913.

1 19 1; Patented Feb.23, 1915.

THE NORRIS PETERS'CO. PHDTO-LITHQ. WASHINGTON. D. C

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BENNETT S. "WILLIAMS, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.

SILO.

1,1aa1ae.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 111310.23, 1a1s.

Application filed December 5, 1913. Serial No. 804,859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENNETT S. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Knoxville, in the county of Knox and State ofTennessee, have invented a new and use:

ful Improvement in Silos, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My improvement relates particularly to silo doors, the improvement beingapplicable to various forms of silos.

The object of the improvement is to provide a silo door which compriseseflicient and cheap means for supporting and securing the door.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a siloincluding a door, embodying my improvement; Fig. 2 is a section on theline, 2-2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on the line, 33, of Fig. 1,looking toward the right; Fig. l is a section on the line, ll, of Fig.1; Fig. 5 is a plan of two hinge members; Fig. 6 is an elevation of saidhinge members.

Referring to said drawings, A is the wall of the silo, and B is the doorcasing secured to the wall around the opening which is to receive thedoor.

C is the body of the door. This is of proper form to fit into thecasing, 13, from the inside of the silo in the usual manner.

Any desired number of hinges, D, are applied to the casing and oneupright edge of the door to permit the latter to swing inward. Themember, 1, of the hinges has a pintle, 2, extending into a barrel, 3, onthe member, 4, of the hinge. Said barrel is elongated in cross-sectionin a direction parallel to the member, 4c, as shown in Figs. 4: and 5.The purpose of such enlargement of said barrel is to allow sufficientplay to co1npensate for warping, swelling or shrinking of the door orthe door casing.

On the outer face of the door'and at each upright edge thereof is abearing, 5, in which rests a journal, 6, of a crank member, E. Saidbearings are secured to said door in any suitable manner, as by means ofscrews, 7. Outside of each bearmg, 5, said crank member, E, has arearward-directed arm, 8, on which is a downward extension, 9. The rear,upper portion of each arm, 8, is made angular to adapt said arm to actas a cam. Said arm and said extension bear against a metal face plate,10, secured to the outer face of the casing, B, behind said cams andhorizontally opposite the bearings, 5. The arms, 8, extend far enoughrearward from the journals, 6, to cause firm pressure by said arms uponthe face plates, 10, when the crank, 11, of the crank member, E, isturned into the horizontal position, the position shown in Figs. 1, 2and 3. The extension, 9, prevents said crank from moving downwardfarther than the horizontal position. When said crank is turned upward,the arms, 8, 8, are moved'downward and forward out of engagement withthe face plates, 10, whereby the door is released.

When the door is closed and secured, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, thereis a space between the crank, 11, and the right hand bearing, 5, andalso between the left hand arm, 8, and the left hand bearing, 5, asshown in Figs. 1 and 2. This involves making the crank narrower than thespace between the bearings and placing the left hand bearing a shortdistance rightward from the left hand edge of the door. The purpose ofthis arrangement is to permit shifting the entire crank member rightwardafter it has been turned to bring the crank, 11, into the uprightposition, such rightward shifting being sufficient to make the left handend of the crank member clear the adjacent door casing, B, to permit thedoor to swing inward for opening it.

When the door is to be closed, the crank member is turned to bring thecrank into the upright position and the crank member is then shiftedmanually toward the right, if it is not already so. The door is thendrawn outward into the closed position. Then the crank member, E, ismanually shifted bodily leftward until the arm, 8, and extension, 9,stand in front of the adjacent portion of the casing, 13. Then thecrank, 11, is turned downward, whereby the arms, 8, and extension, 9,are forced against the casing, B, which action draws the door forciblyoutward. It is to be observed that the crank member is shifted endwiseonly when it is free from the silo wall. The metal face plates, 10, areused because they are harder than is the wood of which the casing, B, isusually made, and said plates are to be regarded as a part of the casingor silo wall. The crank, 11, constitutes a ladder step or rung, thedownward movement of the crank being arrested when the extension, 9,bears against the plates, 10. Any desired number of such doors may beplaced one above the other or in any other arrangement.

I claim as my invention:

In a silo having a door opening, a door fitting into said opening fromone side of the silo wall, bearings on one face of the door, a rigidcrank member having journals resting in and endwise shiftable in saidbearings and having a crank between said bearings narrower than thespace between said bearings, whereby said crank member is made manuallyshiftable endWise in said bearings, and said crank member having arms atits outer ends separated from each other a distance equal to thedistance between two outer bearing faces located at opposite sides ofand adjacent the door opening, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in presence oi. twowitnesses, this 3rd day of December, in the year one thousand ninehundred and thirteen.

BENNETT S. WILLIAMS.

'Witnesses:

CYRUS Kai-In, Roy A. JOHNSTON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner 01 Patents,

Washington, D. G.

